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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25815256">Unknown, unseen, and yet still so close</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steamed_Tets/pseuds/Steamed_Tets'>Steamed_Tets</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Imaginary Friend AU [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Property of Hate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Imaginary friend AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:15:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,366</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25815256</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steamed_Tets/pseuds/Steamed_Tets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when you find out your best friend is actually invisible and you're the only one who can see them?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Imaginary Friend AU [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Unknown, unseen, and yet still so close</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>LOOK! AN ACTUAL START TO THE IMAGINARY FRIEND AU!!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Blinding white light blocked out all vision possible. She couldn’t see anything, and using her hands and arms to shield her eyes proved to be ineffective at stopping the light. It hurt. Her eyes clenched shut and yet the light still made it through somehow. It was really warm too, not enough to burn, but it was really hot. Just like it had been when they had freed all the suns. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sat up suddenly, back in a bedroom she didn’t entirely recognize. What had just happened? Had it all been a dream? She looked down at her hands to see that they were no longer toon-like gloves, tugged at her hair to see that it was back to being the same brown shade it had been when she entered that world. She paused and then tossed her blanket off, only to see, with relief, that the scar on her knee was in fact still there. She sighed, falling back against the comfort of the bed. The journey she had been on, all the friends she had made. It had all actually happened. Silence filled the air, the only thing she could hear was the quiet hum of morning traffic speeding stories below her. No one to bother her, no mission to complete, nothing to run away from, no guide to drag her off to the next thing, so she simply laid there. Staring up at the ceiling trying to process what exactly had even happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>RGB and I were in her chamber. It was very bright and entirely white. The other heroes were there. I don’t remember what happened after that. Then it was even brighter, and there was a light. And it burned. A lot, that wasn’t exactly swell. And then I woke up here, in...my old bedroom I think.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello there.” A voice says, right beside her head. She jumps nearly two feet off the bed and turns quickly in shock. RGB stood there beside her bed, just as he had so long ago on the night he had asked her if she wanted to be a Hero. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Then again was it really even that long ago?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“RGB?” Her head tilted in curiosity, “Is it really you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiled ever so slightly, green ink dripping off the edge of his screen, “It is Hero.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seconds pass, then minutes. It takes her a </span>
  <em>
    <span>long</span>
  </em>
  <span> while to process that he is here with her, in her bedroom. He’s actually here, they did it. They conquered Hate. Once it’s actually processed in her head she leapt off her bed and into his arms, screaming his name as she did. Thankfully, he caught her with extremely unnatural grace, wrapping her in his arms in quite a big hug as well. The two of them wait there a while, holding each other close in a hug, not wanting to be apart just yet after everything that had happened. Her face nuzzled into what would be his neck, provided he had one anyway, and his free hand petting her hair ever so gently. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She pulled away quickly, gripping the edges of his head in her hands, “How did you even get here? What’s going on? What happened after she…?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>RGB frowned ever so slightly, “After everything, even after the light took you away. We scrambled for a bit to figure out what had happened. Where had you gone? Was that world safe? Was everyone else safe? Took a bit of doing I will admit, takes a long time to do all of that. But at the same time, time must have slowed down. Not much time has actually passed since you left.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked down at his chest, fiddling with his bow tie for a minute before getting the courage to speak again, “So, what happens now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well Hero, that’s entirely up to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She climbed out of his arms and paced around her bedroom for a bit before suddenly dragging him out of the room by his arm, much to his loud protests, her laughing and giggling all the way. RGB protested loudly the whole time and Hero ran into the kitchen where her parents stood waiting for her. She let go of RGB’s hand and hugged them both, though no time may have passed truly here, she hadn’t seen them in weeks. They hugged her, as they did every morning she remembered, and she started telling them about the amazing journey she went on! All her friends, and RGB! And RGB was here and she turned to introduce him, while he stood rather awkwardly in the kitchen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh sweetie, I hope you and your friend had a safe journey.” Her mom interrupted, but when she looked up her mom wasn’t looking at RGB, in fact Hero had been certain she wasn’t looking at anything. Her dad had the same reaction. It was almost as if…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She turned to face RGB again and he was standing there, fiddling with his hat and looking at them. Yellow and cyan ink dripped off the edge of his face. She looked between her parents and RGB before piecing it together, right as her mother shooed her off to get ready for school. She looked to the floor as she walked past RGB, leaving him there for a moment and waiting for him in her bedroom where he inevitably joined her a few minutes later. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hero?” He called, stepping into her room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was back on her bed, blankets fully covering her up, “You’re not really there, are you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was silence for a moment, and as she pulled the blanket tighter over her head she knew that he was taking time to think about how to answer. But she knew. He was both there and yet he wasn’t. How could that possibly be?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I don’t believe that I am. At least not in the way either of us expected. Though to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure entirely what would happen if I tried to come back here. There were a lot of possibilities, but I wanted to see you again Hero, so I took that risk.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That wasn’t the answer she was looking for. The whole thing wasn’t a dream, she knew how those worked and it wasn’t like this. She had the scar to prove just that, the problem came in when her parents couldn’t see RGB standing there in their own kitchen! How could they not see him!? Telly-headed men aren’t exactly the most common occurrence in the world after all! She rolled over and peeked out of the blanket, her former guide leaning against the dresser beside her bed, seemingly lost in thought. She reached out a shaky hand, gently poking the side of his head, her finger flattening out upon impact, proving that he was in fact there, he was real. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What in heaven are you doing Hero?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re real. I can feel you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I sure bloody hope I’m real!” He shouted in a rather overexaggerated tone, causing her to laugh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, silly! I mean you’re real and I can see you and touch you, so something has to be different between them and me. Cause they couldn’t see you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He paused to think it over for a moment, “I do believe you’re onto something there, Hero.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What if you’re like my imaginary friend now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do suppose that would mean I wouldn’t have to worry about being so secretive if you’re the only one who can see me. Though I must say that I should be getting back soon.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sat up quickly, alarm in her voice, “You’re leaving?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He raised his hands in defense, “Only for a little while. I can’t stay here too long at this point, we’re still figuring it out. I’ll be back to visit you, heroes promise.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Every day?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That caught him off guard and he stuttered over himself for a moment, unable to truly deny her pleading eyes, “Alright, alright, every day if I can manage it.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shouted in joy once more, leaping into his arms yet again for another hug. Imaginary or not, he was still her guide, and one of her closest friends.</span>
</p>
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